Ryan and Joan
by millstone1005
Summary: Complete Ryan meets Joan from 'Joan of Arcadia'
1. Meeting Joan

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: In this alternate universe, Ryan and Marissa never went out. In "The Heights" she never forgave him at the carnival for attacking Luke at soccer practice and the things he said to her later that night. This takes place about a month later, in mid-October.

* * *

** Chapter 1 - "Meeting Joan" **

This Saturday, Ryan went through what had become in the last month his usual Saturday routine. He received his phone call from Donny's friend, or _The Party Guy_, as Ryan thought of him. The party this week was in Arcadia. Ryan had never been to Arcadia, so he used his laptop computer and went on the web to get directions to this place. Ryan dressed down in his older clothes, including one of his so-called 'wife-beaters'. He got on his bike and rode down to the numbered streets to pick up the car his friend from the Crab Shack was letting him borrow every Saturday night while his license was suspended. He put on his leather jacket and hooded gray sweatshirt which he left with the car every week. He wanted to fit in to the places where he was going.

Ryan drove to Arcadia and found the house party in a working class neighborhood with no problem. The neighborhood reminded him of his old neighborhood in Chino, with the chain-link fences around the small but well-kept houses. This house reminded him of Theresa's house. By the time Ryan got there, at about 8 O'Clock, the party was in full swing. He entered the house and since it was hot in there, he took off his jacket, leaving him with just his tank top on (and pants and boots).

Ryan took his usual look around, scoping out the girls to find some that would be willing to get into it with a guy they just met. Such girls were easy to find in places like this. He hadn't had any problems finding willing girls in the four previous Saturday parties he'd attended. Right away, he spotted three good candidates. He managed to catch the eye of each one, and they each looked back at him like they were interested. He picked one and went over to her and asked her to dance. Normally he didn't like to dance, but he found that it was the best way at these parties to pick a girl to get it on with. He usually danced with each candidate for one song and then picked one of the girls to go off with.

While Ryan was dancing with candidate number one, another girl caught his attention. She was the total opposite of the kind of girl he was looking for at these parties. She looked sweet and innocent, had probably never gone all the way, maybe never even kissed a guy. She had long brown hair and a pretty face. She wasn't beautiful or striking, but there was just something about her that Ryan couldn't put his finger on. She was the kind of girl you'd have a serious relationship with. And since that was totally not what Ryan was looking for, he tried to forget about her and concentrate on his dance with candidate number one. But he couldn't forget about her. He kept finding himself looking over at her. With the next song, and candidate number two, he hoped to have better luck, but it was the same thing. He kept thinking about that other girl.

Joan had noticed the good looking guy in the tank top as soon as he came in. She saw him take off his leather jacket and carefully place it out of the way so that it couldn't get beer or something spilled on it. She watched him scan the room and nod to three slutty looking girls. She was a little disappointed that that's the kind of girl he was looking for. She tried to forget him since he was obviously not the kind of guy she was looking for. But she kept finding herself watching him dance. He didn't dance very well, but the girl he was with didn't seem to care. She had her hands all over him. She watched him move on to a second skank when the next song came on. But she still couldn't stop looking at him.

While Ryan was dancing with candidate number two, he looked over at the nice girl, again, and this time she was looking at him at the same time. Their eyes met. He looked away quickly, embarrassed, but not before he saw her do the same thing. So she was interested in him too. That just made him more attracted to her. He decided he wouldn't be able to get her off his mind unless he danced with her. So after the song was over, he bypassed candidate number three and approached the nice girl instead.

"Hi."

Joan was a little surprised that the cute guy actually came up to her. All she could say in response was, "Hi."

"Would you like to dance?"

Joan smiled and nodded. Ryan took her hand and led her out to the middle of the dancers. It was a fast song, so they didn't have to touch while they danced. And the music was so loud that they couldn't really talk, so they just danced. Ryan found that the close proximity of this girl was doing the opposite of what he had hoped. Now all he wanted to do was to get to know her better. He totally forgot about why he came here in the first place.

When the song was over. Ryan said, "My name is Ryan, by the way."

"Joan."

Ryan smiled. That name was perfect for her: simple, plain, sweet. The next song started playing. It was a slow song. All of the couples around them started to put their arms around each other and sway to the song. Ryan looked over at Joan and gave her a questioning look, asking if she was interested in doing the same thing. She gave a little shrug and small smile, indicating that it was ok with her. So Ryan carefully put his arms around her, trying not to get too familiar. He didn't want to scare her off. He was happy when she did the same thing. They started to sway to the song.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	2. Meeting Luke

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 2 - "Meeting Luke" **

While dancing with Joan to the slow song, Ryan noticed a blond kid with glasses getting bullied by two not-very-nice looking guys. He heard the kid say to them, "Please." Joan must have heard it too, because she stopped dancing and turned around to look. Apparently she knew the kid, because she said, "Luke", and started making her way through the dancers over to him.

Ryan was surprised at the surge of jealousy that went through him. He had barely even met this girl Joan, and he didn't even know who this kid Luke was. For all Ryan knew, he was Joan's brother. Ryan followed Joan through the dancers.

When Ryan got a chance, he asked Joan, "Luke?"

Without even turning around, Joan replied, "My brother."

Ryan was relieved to hear that.

When he and Joan arrived at Luke and the two bullies, Ryan stepped in front of Joan, next to Luke, and put on his tough guy act. The bullies were bigger than Ryan, but that was nothing new. Ryan was used to taking on bigger guys. And tougher guys. From up close, these two didn't look like they could last two minutes on the streets in Chino.

Ryan got into the face of the one who looked like the leader, and told him in his toughest voice, "Back off."

Joan was surprised to see the change in Ryan from the nice, considerate guy she was just dancing with, to this tough guy ready to take on two bigger guys to defend her brother, whom Ryan didn't even know. Although looking at his clothes, and given the kind of neighborhood they were in, she knew she shouldn't have really been surprised.

Joan didn't want to see Ryan or Luke get into a fight, so she said to Luke, "Let's go."

Joan grabbed Luke's arm and started pulling him away from the bullies towards the front door of the house. Ryan stayed behind for a few seconds to make sure that the bullies wouldn't go after them, then he followed. The three of them went outside, to an area of the yard which was quieter.

Joan turned to Luke and asked him, "Are you OK?"

Luke took a deep breath and answered, "Yeah, I guess."

Joan looked over at Ryan and said, "Thanks, Ryan. You didn't have to do that."

Ryan gave her a little smile, shrugged, and said, "It was nothing."

The sounds of laughter caught the attention of all three of them. They watched as the same two bullies came out of the house and started drinking beer on the front lawn. They didn't pay any attention to Ryan, Joan, and Luke. 

But Joan didn't want to take any chances. She said to Luke. "We should go." 

Ryan saw Luke nod. Apparently they were leaving. Ryan didn't want to just let Joan go out of his life and never see her again. Now he understood why Marissa came to the model home to see him the night before he was going to leave town. Too bad that didn't work out. Damn Luke. Newport Luke, that is.

So Ryan spoke up. "Do you need a ride? I have a car..."

Before Joan could answer, Luke did. "Yeah. That would be great."

Joan gave Luke a look like _why did you say that?_ Luke had seen how Joan and this Ryan guy were looking at each other. He decided to play matchmaker. So he gave her a look back like _what?_

Ryan ignored the looks they were giving each other and just said, "Great. Just let me get my jacket."

Joan watched Ryan head back into the house. While she was waiting for him to come back, she spotted the heavy-set high school girl that He showed up as sometimes. She sighed and left Luke to go over and talk to Him/Her.

The heavy-set girl said, "Take him home. Introduce him to your parents."

"You're kidding, right? Him? They'll have a coronary."

The girl just smiled, turned around, and walked away, waving her right hand back at Joan.

It hadn't taken Ryan long to go inside and get his jacket. When he came back out, he saw Luke standing by himself where he left him. He looked over at where Luke was looking and saw Joan talking to another girl. Ryan saw the other girl turn and walk away.

Luke and Ryan walked over to where Joan was. Ryan said, "Ready?"

Joan replied, "Yeah."

Luke felt the need to play matchmaker some more. So he said to Ryan, "It's still early. You are going to come in, right? We can hang out. Play video games or something."

Ryan again ignored the look that Joan gave her brother. He told Luke, "Sounds good."

The three of them walked out of the yard and down the street to where Ryan had parked his borrowed car. Joan took one look at the beat up old car and thought that it was exactly the kind of car that she'd expect someone like Ryan to have. Her father wasn't going to like this.

Ryan unlocked the doors to the car, and while Joan got into the front seat and Luke got into the back seat, Ryan opened the trunk and put his leather jacket inside. He took out the blue long sleeve button-up shirt that he had left home wearing and put it back on. The sleeves were already rolled up. Ryan also tried to use his fingers to fix up his hair a little bit. If he was going to this nice girl's home, he wanted to look better than his Chino self that he projected at the parties.

When Ryan got into the car, Joan noticed the change in his wardrobe. She thought it made him look totally different. Like the difference between him as the tough guy and him as the considerate guy. Maybe her Dad wouldn't object too much after all.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	3. Meeting the Parents

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: I know that _Joan of Arcadia_ is set in Arcadia, Maryland. For the purposes of this story, I'm pretending that it is set in Arcadia, California, which is located to the east-north-east of L.A., next to Pasadena. According to mapquest, it is about 1 hour's drive from Newport Beach.

* * *

** Chapter 3 - "Meeting the Parents" **

Ryan started the car, looked over at Joan, and asked, "OK. So. Where do you live?"

Joan gave him the address. Ryan said, "I don't know Arcadia, so you'll have to direct me."

Ryan followed Joan's directions to her house. While they were driving, they talked.

Joan started off. "Before I introduce you to my parents, I think we should know a little more about each other."

It hadn't crossed Ryan's mind that he would get introduced to her parents, but now that he thought about it, since he was going inside her house, he should have expected it.

Joan continued, "So like I said, I'm Joan. Joan Girardi. I'm 16. I'm a junior at Arcadia High. My brother Luke here is 15. We also have an older brother, Kevin, he's 19. I don't think he's home tonight, but just in case, you should know that he's in a wheelchair. He was in a car accident last year."

Ryan hadn't been around many people in wheelchairs, so he was glad that she had warned him, so he could be cool about it when he met him.

Ryan replied, "Ryan Atwood. Also 16. Also a junior. Like I said, I don't live in Arcadia. You may not believe this, but I live in Newport Beach and go to a private school."

Ryan looked over at Joan and as he expected, she was looking at him like he was pulling her leg. Ryan laughed.

"It's true. It's a long story. I'll tell it to you sometime. Basically, I used to live in Chino. I grew up there. I lived there until a couple of months ago. The person I was at the party back there is the person I used to be in Chino."

"And you're different now?"

"Kind of. Although I guess people never really change that much."

By this time, they had arrived at the Girardi house. Ryan parked along the curb out front. Ryan saw a nice middle-class house. Two stories. Probably had like four bedrooms. Two car garage. It was in between the houses in Chino and the houses in Newport.

The three kids got out of the car, walked up the front walk, and went in the front door. As soon as they were inside, Luke ran up the stairs, leaving Joan and Ryan alone. They looked at each other, each knowing that Luke had set this up for them to be together.

Joan started leading Ryan towards the kitchen. "I'm going to get a Coke. Do you want something?"

"Coke is good. Thanks."

They walked into the kitchen, and Joan went over to the refrigerator and took out two cans of Coke. She handed one to Ryan. Before they had a chance to talk or even sit down, Joan's father Will walked into the kitchen.

He said to Joan, "You're home early. Is Luke home too?"

"He's upstairs."

Will nodded. He looked over at Ryan, put out his hand, and said to him, "Hi. Will Girardi. I'm Joan's father."

Ryan shook Will's hand, and said, "Ryan Atwood."

"Are you a friend of Joan's from school?"

Before Ryan or Joan could reply, Joan's mother Helen came into the kitchen. She also said to Joan, "You're home early."

Helen looked at Ryan a little confused. She said to him, "Are you new? I don't recognize you from school."

Ryan was confused himself, until Joan turned to him and said, "My mother works at the high school."

Joan said to her mother, "Mom, this is Ryan. He doesn't live in Arcadia. We met at the party tonight."

Will asked Ryan, "Where do you live?"

"Newport Beach."

Joan could see this turning into a third-degree from her parents, so she decided to duck out before it got worse. She grabbed Ryan's hand and started to lead him over to the stairs. "Mom. Dad. We'll be up in my room."

Helen called after her daughter, "Remember the rules. If you have a boy in your room, you have to leave the door open."

Joan let out an exaspirated sigh. "Yes, Mom."

Will watched Joan and Ryan go up the stairs and out of sight. His policeman's instincts were telling him that there was something about this kid Ryan. He decided to let Joan have some time with him first, then go and try to talk with him and find out what it was that was nagging at the back of his mind.

Helen said to her husband, "That Ryan kid seemed nice."

Obviously, Helen didn't have cop's instincts.

When Joan and Ryan reached her room, they went in and sat on the bed. Joan said, "Sorry about my parents..."

"Ah, don't worry about it. They seemed nice. You know, like, they were just being parents."

"Yeah, I guess. And sorry about Luke, you know, how he invited you to come in and hang out with him, then he just took off..."

Ryan smiled. "I don't think he really wanted me to hang out with _him_, do you?"

Joan smiled too and ducked her head, because it was true, and they both knew it. After a moment of awkwardness, they started talking. About school, and music, and movies, and her family, and other stuff. Ryan tried to steer the conversation away from talking about his family or his current complicated living situation or how it got that way. He also didn't want to get anywhere near his problems with the law. Joan noticed that he was avoiding certain subjects, but she didn't want to push it since they just met and were just getting to know each other.

After they'd been talking for a while, there was a lull in the conversation as they'd pretty much exhausted all normal getting-to-know-you subjects, and neither one was a big talker. During their conversation Ryan had been watching Joan and liked what he saw. He took this opportunity to lean forward and indicate that he wanted to kiss her. He went slowly so that if she didn't want to also, she had plenty of opportunity to back out. She didn't, so Ryan kissed her. Just a quick first kiss type kiss.

Ryan backed off and said, "Was that OK?"

Joan smiled, and blushed, and ducked her head, and said, "Yeah."

So with that encouragement, Ryan decided to take the next step. He reached out and gently put his hand below her ear on the side of her neck. He leaned forward and gave her a deeper, longer, French kiss. This was really getting him excited, but he knew that she wasn't that kind of girl, so he broke it off sooner than he wanted and made himself calm down.

He gave her a questioning look, trying to ask her if he'd just gone too far for her. Or maybe not far enough. She was glowing. She smiled and ducked her head again, and was blushing furiously. He judged that was as far as he could take it for tonight anyway.

Ryan watched as Joan composed herself. She looked back up at him and said, "How about we go downstairs and watch some TV?"

Obviously, Ryan had been right. "Sure."

Ryan took Joan's hand and they headed downstairs.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	4. Talking with Joan's Dad

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 4 - "Talking with Joan's Dad" **

Ryan and Joan walked hand-in-hand from her bedroom upstairs, down the stairs, and into the living room. Ryan spotted some Girardi family pictures and stopped to look at them. The one which really caught his eye contained Joan's father in a police uniform. Joan saw him looking at that one. She hadn't mentioned that her father was a cop, because she hadn't wanted to scare him off. Well, the secret was out now.

Ryan said, "Your father is a cop?"

Ryan spoke in a tone of voice that sounded strange to Joan's ears. She wasn't sure what it meant. She answered, "Yeah. Actually, he's the Chief of Police here. That's why we moved here, when he got the job."

Ryan continued to stare at the picture. Joan could see that he was all tense now. She hoped it didn't mean what she thought it did. Because she really liked this guy and didn't want her father's job to drive him away.

Will had been waiting to talk to Ryan. He heard them coming down the stairs and went over to the livingroom to intercept them. So he heard the entire conversation and saw Ryan tense up when he saw the picture of him in his uniform. Will was more convinced then ever that Ryan had been in some trouble before.

At this point, Will decided to make his presence known. "Ryan?"

Ryan turned and looked back at Joan's father, the cop. He could see from the way he was looking at him, that he knew. And Will could see from Ryan's reaction that he knew that he knew.

Will continued, "Can I speak to you?"

Ryan swallowed, and nodded. He turned back to Joan and let go of her hand. He gave her a little smile and ran his hand down the outside of her upper arm. Then he turned and walked towards Will. Joan could see that something was going on between her father and Ryan, but didn't know what it was.

Will led Ryan to the den and let him go in first. As he slid the doors closed, he told Ryan, "Have a seat."

Ryan sat down on the couch and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He lowered his head. Will sat down opposite Ryan. He watched him for a few seconds. He seemed like maybe he was a good kid who just made some mistakes, ones that he was ashamed of. He wasn't acting like a tough guy with an attitude.

So Will said gently, "Why don't you tell me about it?"

Ryan looked up at Joan's father. He tried to figure out where to start, and how much to tell him. He knew that as a cop, he could look him up on the computer, and maybe he already had while he was upstairs with Joan. Ryan took a deep breath, and began.

"I'm currently on probation."

Will nodded, not very surprised. "For what?"

"I went along with my brother while he stole a car. We got caught. Since it was my first time, my lawyer got it down to a misdemeaner. Probation."

Will noticed that Ryan said that it was his brother who stole the car, not him. He hoped that it didn't mean that Ryan wasn't taking responsibility for his own actions.

"Anything else?"

"I was arrested one other time. The charges were dropped."

Will gave Ryan a look like he should continue.

"There was a fire. It was an accident."

"How did you accidentally start a fire?"

"I was fighting with this other guy. Some candles got knocked over..."

"You get into fights too?"

Ryan just closed his eyes, realizing that this sounded really bad. He fully expected that Joan's Dad at this point would just say that there was no way that he could go out with Joan. To Ryan's surprise, he kept asking questions.

"All this happened in Newport Beach?"

Ryan opened his eyes and looked back at Joan's Dad. "Uh, no. I used to live in Chino. The car happened in Chino. The fire happened in Newport."

"Chino? You moved from Chino to Newport Beach?"

Ryan lowered his head again. He didn't really want to go through what happened, but he did really want to go out with Joan, so he figured his only chance here was to be completely honest. Will saw Ryan look upset and lower his head. He instantly regretted asking the question. Knowing what things were like in Chino, he knew there was probably a really nasty story behind the move. But before Will could say anything, like to nevermind answering that particular question, Ryan started to answer.

"After I got arrested the first time, for the car, my Mom threw me out. My lawyer took me in. Now I live with him and his family in Newport." Ryan said all this without ever looking up.

Will did appreciate the honesty, even though it obviously upset Ryan to talk about it. As it should. He decided that was enough probing into Ryan's past. He knew enough. His first assessment was right. He was a good kid who had made mistakes and had bad things happen to him. But he still wasn't completely convinced that this was the kind of kid he wanted his daughter to go out with.

"Does Joan know about any of this?"

Ryan looked back up at Will. "No. Well, she does know that I used to live in Chino and I now live in Newport. We just met."

"You really just met at the party tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, she brought you home to meet the parents, and you two were holding hands. I just thought that maybe you'd been secretly going out for a while. Huh, I guess you two hit it off right away."

Ryan got a faraway look in his eye that Will interpreted as love at first sight. This kid had it bad. Maybe he could give him a break.

"You said you live with your lawyer?"

"Yeah. He and his wife are my legal guardians."

"What's his name? Maybe I know him."

"Sandy Cohen. He used to be with the public defender's office."

"Sandy Cohen? Public defender's office? Hmmm... Sounds familiar. Tell you what, I'll talk to him, and then make up my mind if I want my daughter to go out with you. Does that sound fair?"

Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought for sure that there was no way with his past that Joan's Dad would let him go out with Joan. Now it sounded like he hadn't made up his mind yet. And he offered to talk to Sandy. Ryan knew that Sandy would tell him that he was a good kid, so this was great.

Ryan replied, "Yeah. Thanks."

"Would he be home right now?"

Ryan had to think for a second, what was Sandy doing tonight. "Hmm... There's no charity thing this weekend, so I think he should be home. I'll give you the house number and his cell, just in case."

Will got up and went over to his desk and took out some paper and pen and gave them to Ryan to write down the phone numbers. Ryan wrote them down and handed the paper and pen back to Will. Will went over to the phone, and Ryan went over to the door. He was going to find Joan. She deserved to know everything that he just told her father. He didn't have to go looking for her, because when he slid the den doors open, she was right outside waiting.

When the doors opened, Joan stepped forward and looked from Ryan to her father and back. "Is everything OK?"

Ryan replied, "There's some stuff I have to tell you. Let's go to your room."

Joan looked over at her father, who just smiled and nodded at her, and went back to the phone. Ryan took Joan's hand and led her upstairs to her room.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	5. Talking with Joan

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 5 - "Talking with Joan" **

When Ryan and Joan got to Joan's room, Joan went in and sat down on the bed. Ryan closed the door and leaned against it with his back.

Joan reminded him, "The door is not supposed to be closed..."

"I think your Dad will understand."

"Why? What happened downstairs? What did he want to talk to you about?"

Ryan sighed and looked over at Joan. Was she really that clueless? Or maybe she just wanted him to say it. Or maybe she didn't want it to be true.

"He knew I'd been in trouble before. He wanted to know the details."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

So Ryan repeated the conversation he had with her father. He told her about being on probation and the two arrests. He also told her about his Mom throwing him out and abandoning him, and the Cohens taking him in. At this point, Joan had tears flowing freely down her face.

"Oh, my god, Ryan. That's terrible."

She got up from the bed and walked quickly over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He put his arms around her and hugged her back. They both had their eyes closed. Joan continued to cry, and it took everything Ryan had to keep himself from crying too. Ryan and Joan didn't know how long they stayed that way, just comforting each other. Joan had finally stopped crying when her Mom knocked on the door.

Helen opened the door, saying, "Joan, the door's supposed to be open..."

She wasn't able to open the door all the way because it bumped into the back of Ryan since they'd been standing right inside the door while they hugged. Joan and Ryan quickly released each other. Ryan didn't want Joan's Mom to see him like this, so he moved further into the room, crossed his arms, and continued to look away from the door. Joan just stood where she was and looked at her Mom.

Helen wasn't blind. She could see that her daughter had been crying and that Ryan was really upset. She had seen them hugging when she first opened the door.

Helen asked Joan, "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

Joan didn't answer. She looked back behind her at Ryan and could see that he needed some more time to compose himself. So she moved forward out of her room and closed the door behind her, leaving Ryan some privacy.

As they walked down the hallway, Joan asked her mother, "Have you talked to Dad? About Ryan?"

"No. Why? What does this have to do with why you were crying?"

"I was crying for Ryan, Mom. He's been through a lot. I don't want to go into it. You should talk to Dad."

Helen reached out and pulled Joan into a hug. She looked like she needed it. She was such a compassionate girl, Helen knew that Joan was feeling all of Ryan's pain, whatever it was. Joan appreciated her mother's hug and hugged her back. She felt herself starting to cry again, and moved quickly to squash it. Joan let go of her mother, who released her in response.

Will came upstairs to find Ryan since he finished talking to Sandy Cohen. He found his wife and daughter in the hallway. He also could see that Joan had been crying. He figured that Ryan told Joan everything that he had told him. Knowing Joan, Will figured that she was crying about Ryan's mother. He put an understanding hand on Joan's shoulder.

He asked her, "Where's Ryan?"

"In my room."

While the Girardis were in the hallway, Ryan was in Joan's room pulling himself together. He took some deep breaths and made sure there were no tears on his face. When he was ready, he opened her door and walked into the hallway, where Joan and her parents were.

Will spoke up, "Ryan. I talked with your guardian. I'm going to give you and Joan a chance. But if you hurt my daughter..."

Ryan put his hands up defensively and said, "I would never do anything to hurt Joan."

"Good. I'm going to hold you to that. By the way, Sandy had no idea that you were in Arcadia tonight."

Ryan groaned and lowered his head. He didn't even think about that.

Will continued, "So you have some explaining to do when you get home. Which is where you should be headed right away. It is getting late and Sandy told me that your curfew is midnight and you have a long drive ahead of you."

Ryan looked at his wrist to check the time on his watch. He forgot that he wasn't wearing his watch because he always takes it off when he goes to his Saturday night parties, since it is too expensive for someone who is supposed to be from Chino. He reached into his pocket and took it out and put it on his wrist. Then he could see that it was 10:30. Wow, it was later than he thought. It _was_ time to head home.

Ryan said to Will, "Yeah. I'm going. Thank you."

Will gave Ryan a smile and nodded. Ryan looked at Joan and said, "Walk me out?"

Joan smiled, took his hand, and led him past her parents, down the stairs, and to the front door. They went out and closed the door behind them. They stopped and talked on the front steps. Ryan took out of his pocket a couple pieces of paper and a pen. He unfolded one of the pieces of paper and handed it to Joan.

"I wrote down my information for you. Here's my name and address. The names of my guardians. My phone numbers. I put down the main house and the pool house."

"Pool house?"

"Yeah. I live in their pool house. Didn't I mention that?"

"No. What's a pool house?"

Ryan laughed. "I didn't know what a pool house was either. It's a small building in the back yard next to the pool. It's like a little studio apartment. It has a mini kitchen and everything, although I never use it. As far as the phone numbers go, I'm usually in the pool house, but sometimes I'm inside the main house, you know like for meals or to watch TV or play video games with Seth."

"Seth?"

"My guardians' son. My best friend. I'll tell you all about him later."

Ryan unfolded the other piece of paper and took out the pen. "Now I need your phone number and how do you spell your last name?"

Joan spelled out her last name and gave Ryan her number. After Ryan finished writing it down, he folded the paper back up and put it in his pocket. He gave her back the pen, since it was hers from her room.

"I'll call you when I can. I'm not sure when that will be since I'm probably going to be grounded when I get home. I don't know for how long."

"Grounded? Why would you be grounded?"

"You heard your Dad say that Sandy didn't know I was here? Well, I've been lying to them about where I've been going on Saturday nights. So I didn't exactly have permission to go to that party here in Arcadia tonight."

"Hold on. Why was my Dad talking to your guardian in the first place?"

"After hearing about my past, your Dad wasn't sure if he was going to let us go out together, so he suggested talking to Sandy about me and then decide. I figured that Sandy would tell him that I was a good guy, and this way he'd let us date."

"But you knew that my Dad would tell Sandy that you were here, in Arcadia, right? And you let them talk anyway, knowing that you'd be busted and you'd get grounded? All so that maybe my Dad would let you go out with me? Wow."

Ryan didn't want to tell her that he didn't even think about all that, he just wanted to date her. Well, maybe it all amounts to the same thing. Because if he had thought of it, he'd still do it. So he smiled, and put his hand on her neck, and leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss.

"You're worth it."

Joan beamed with pleasure. She gave Ryan a quick hug. Then he went down to his car and headed home.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	6. Facing the Music

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: I want to thank my beta, Eileen, for the brainstorming session about this story.

* * *

** Chapter 6 - "Facing the Music" **

As Ryan pulled away from the Girardi house, he realized that he was going to have to figure out how to get back to the highway. It was times like these that he really appreciated the talking GPS that the Cohens had in their cars. Unfortunately, he was going to have to figure this one out on his own. He hoped that he wouldn't lose too much time trying to find his way around Arcadia. It was already a 1 hour drive to Newport, and after he got there he was still going to have to ride his bike from his friend's house back to the Cohens'. So Ryan headed out and hoped for the best.

An hour and five minutes later, Ryan pulled into his friend's driveway in the numbered-street section of Newport Beach. Luckily, he didn't lose too much time in Arcadia, and he still had enough time to get back home before his midnight curfew. He quickly parked and went over and left the keys under the doormat, as usual.

Ryan got on his bike and headed home. He was wearing his leather jacket home this time because he knew he wasn't going to need it to go to any more Saturday parties. He thought about leaving his friend a note that he wouldn't be needing to borrow the car any more, but he didn't have anything to write with. At this point he wished he hadn't given Joan back her pen.

* * *

Back at the Cohen house, Sandy was waiting up for Ryan. He was quite angry earlier, after Will Girardi called and he found out that Ryan was in Arcadia tonight. Sandy called over to the moviehouse that Ryan told them he had been working at every Saturday night for the past month or so. They never heard of Ryan. He couldn't believe that Ryan lied to them. They trusted him and never called over there to doublecheck.

In the time that Sandy waited for Ryan to drive home, he had managed to calm himself down for the most part. He knew that it was a really bad idea to try to discipline Ryan while he himself was angry. Sandy had learned in the couple of months that he had been Ryan's guardian what worked with Ryan, and it wasn't anger. And it went without saying that getting physical with Ryan was totally out of the question.

* * *

Ryan arrived home with about 5 minutes to spare. Since he knew that Sandy would be waiting for him, he went in the front door instead of walking around the house and going directly to the pool house like he usually did. As he expected, he found Sandy in the kitchen. He was sitting at the kitchen island eating popcorn out of a bowl.

Sandy watched Ryan walk into the kitchen, carrying his leather jacket. Sandy was surprised to see it. He didn't know that Ryan even still had it. Sandy hadn't seen it since Ryan was arrested after the model home fire. He had always thought of that jacket as a symbol of Ryan's life in Chino. He hoped that it wasn't a really bad sign that Ryan had been wearing it.

Sandy put on a smile and gestured in a way that included both the bowl of popcorn and the empty chair beside him. He told Ryan, "Grab a drink. Help yourself to some popcorn."

Ryan got an iced tea out of the refrigerator, went over and sat down next to Sandy, and started munching on the popcorn. He was hungry. He hadn't eaten since dinner which was like six hours ago. Ryan was a little surprised when Sandy reached over and put his hand on his back. Ryan looked over at him.

Sandy said, "Are you all right? Will Girardi told me that he asked you about --"

Ryan didn't want to hear any more and interrupted him. "Yeah. I'm OK."

Sandy removed his hand from Ryan's back and reached for more popcorn before continuing. "You know, if there's ever anything you want to talk about..."

"Yeah. I know. Thanks."

Ryan looked away and continued to eat popcorn and drink his iced tea. He hoped that Sandy would take that as an answer and not push him to talk. He had been upset earlier, but he was calm now, and didn't want to get upset all over again by rehashing it yet again. Sandy watched Ryan for a moment and could tell that he didn't want to talk, although when did he ever.

After giving Ryan a minute, Sandy went ahead with the main subject of this "meeting". Sandy tried hard to speak matter-of-factly, and to keep any hint of anger out of his voice.

"I called over to the moviehouse. I know that you've been lying to us. You never worked there. Now I want the truth. What have you been doing every Saturday night for the last five weeks? Truth."

Ryan had expected this. He blinked a few times and lowered his head. After collecting his thoughts for a moment, Ryan looked up, but not directly at Sandy.

"Going to parties."

Ryan hoped that Sandy wouldn't press him for too many more details. Even though Sandy had told him to tell the truth, Ryan knew that if he told him everything about his Saturday night escapades, he'd be in so much trouble with Sandy that he might even wish that Sandy would throw him out because it would be easier than facing him.

He especially hoped that Sandy wouldn't ask him _why_ he wanted to go to these parties. He couldn't tell Sandy that he went looking for meaningless sex. He didn't really want Sandy to know that he'd been having sex since he was 12. Practically every week, in recent years. And after going without for a couple months while he and Marissa were doing their little "mating dance", he really needed it bad.

Ryan sat still and waited for Sandy's next question, with a little dread.

Sandy couldn't believe it. Going to parties? That was so unlike Ryan. As far as Sandy knew, he rarely went to parties. Then again, Sandy didn't know what Ryan was up to as well as he thought he did, now did he? Sandy couldn't help letting a little anger in, and he raised his voice to Ryan.

"I can't believe this. Parties? You lied to us to go out partying? I thought you were better than that."

Sandy stopped to calm himself down. Yelling wasn't going to get him anywhere. Ryan hadn't responded, or even moved. He just kept looking down at his hands.

Sandy tried again, without raising his voice. "Who were you out partying with?"

Ryan looked up. "Friends."

"What friends?" As far as Sandy knew, Seth was his only close friend, and he knew that Seth hadn't been going out every Saturday night with Ryan.

"Guys I worked with at the Crab Shack." That was partially true. The guy who loaned him his car had come along with him to a couple of the parties.

Sandy rubbed his forehead. "Ryan. It isn't just the parties, with the drinking and drugs and who knows what else. It's that you lied to us. We trusted you, and you've broken that trust. It makes me wonder what else you've been lying to us about."

Ryan finally looked over at Sandy. "Nothing. I swear."

At least nothing that Ryan could think of at the moment. No currently active lies at least. Other than almost everything having to do with his Saturday nights.

"There better not be. And there better not be any more in the future. Because I really hate it when people I trust lie to me."

Sandy saw Ryan have a clear reaction to that statement. He quickly looked away from Sandy. He took a quick breath. He blinked his eyes rapidly like he did when someone said something that hit him emotionally. Sandy was glad to see that at least something he'd said had gotten through to Ryan.

That statement hit Ryan because he also hated it when people lied to him, and he didn't want to think of himself as one of those people. He had been lied to by too many people his entire life. He got really pissed off when he was lied to by someone whom he was trying to trust. Like when Marissa didn't tell him about her conversation with Luke during the first week of school, he got so angry that he lashed out at Luke physically at soccer practice, then at Marissa verbally later on. That's how he ruined his chances to be with Marissa.

Sandy waited a bit to see if Ryan would say something, anything. When he didn't, Sandy wasn't really surprised, but he was a little disappointed. Sandy sighed. He was tired. He decided to wrap things up.

"Ryan, you know you're grounded, right? For a week. That means you go to school and come home. No going out after school or on the weekends. No TV. No video games. No computer except for schoolwork. No visitors. No phone calls. And you're going to have to earn back our trust since you lied to us."

Ryan looked back over at Sandy. Not great, but one week wasn't that bad, either. "OK. What about soccer?"

"That's part of school. So you go to classes, then soccer practice, then come home."

"And what about --"

"Yes, you can still play in your soccer game next Saturday. And Kirsten and I will be there to watch you."

Ryan gave Sandy an amused glance. "Meaning watch me play, or keep an eye on me?"

Sandy looked amused back. "Both."

After a moment, Sandy continued, "Well, it's late. You should be getting to bed."

Ryan got up and headed for the pool house. "Night."

"Good night."

When Ryan got to the kitchen door, he realized that he hadn't yet told Sandy that he was sorry. He stopped and turned back to face him. "Sandy, I'm sorry. You know... about... everything."

Sandy sighed. Ryan was always sorry afterwards, but that didn't keep him from doing something else that he had to apologize for. "I know, Ryan. But I'd rather that you didn't do it in the first place, than apologize afterwards."

Ryan didn't know what to say to that. He couldn't promise that he'd never do anything else that he'd have to say he was sorry for. So Ryan just nodded, and then turned and went out to the pool house.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	7. Grounded, part 1: Sunday

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 7 - "Grounded, part 1 - Sunday" **

On Sunday morning, Ryan was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hadn't gotten up yet and was still in his night clothes - a tank top and black sweatpants. Ryan was thinking about the rules that Sandy had listed last night for his grounding. Leaving aside Joan for the moment...

_No TV:_ He didn't really watch much TV. Just the occasional movie on DVD with the family.

_No video games:_ OK, there was that. He and Seth usually played them when they were spending time together.

_No computer:_ He didn't really use the computer much except for schoolwork. Well, he had been using it to get directions to the Saturday parties, but he wouldn't be needing it for that any more.

_No phone calls:_ Who did he ever talk to on the phone?

_No visitors:_ Seth was his best friend, but he lived here, so that didn't count. Other than that, he didn't really have any close friends. There was Anna, but she was really Seth's friend. If she came over, it was to see Seth, not him. And there was Marissa, but they weren't really that close any more. Earlier in the school year, they had tried to be friends, but it was awkward since he still wanted to date her then and she didn't want to. So now they just saw each other at school and sometimes if she was staying with her Mom for the weekend or something. She didn't just drop by to visit.

_No going out after school:_ He didn't really go out during the week. Between soccer practice and the tons of homework that The Harbor School gave its students, he really didn't have time. At least Monday through Thursday. He did like to go out on Fridays.

_No going out on the weekends:_ Yeah, OK, there was that too.

All in all, though, his life was pretty pathetic, he realized. And if he'd been caught going out to his parties say last week, before meeting Joan, then a week's grounding would be nothing really.

But now, with Joan, this week was going to be torture. He already wanted to call her, or at least e-mail her. And if he wasn't grounded, he would have tried to arrange for them to see each other today.

* * *

After lunch, Ryan was sitting on his bed reading a comic book. He did have homework to do, but he figured he had plenty of time to do it. He had the rest of today, Sunday, plus all day tomorrow since it was Columbus Day and they were off from school. He didn't have anything else to do during that time since he couldn't go anywhere, or do anything, or see anyone. And anyway he couldn't do his homework right now. He was having a hard time concentrating on anything because he couldn't stop thinking about Joan.

Seth came into the pool house. "Hey, man. I got something for you."

Ryan took a book from Seth. It was a fairly large paperback book with a red and blue cover. The title was _Kavalier and Clay_.

"You can't really be my friend until you've read that. And I want it back when you're done. It's like my favorite book."

"I thought _On the Road_ was your favorite book."

Seth rolled his eyes. "_On the Road_ is like my favorite 'road picture' book and _Kavalier and Clay_ is like my favorite 'buddy picture' book."

Ryan laughed a little at that. It was so Seth. Then he thought of something. "Hey, Seth. Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, buddy."

"Could you call Joan for me? Let her know I've been grounded and can't call her myself until next Sunday?" Ryan had already told Seth about Joan before lunch. And during lunch. And after lunch. He couldn't believe that it took him this long to think of having Seth call her for him.

"Anything to aid the course of true love."

"I didn't say I was in love with her."

"Fine. The course of true like then."

Ryan rolled his eyes at that. Then he got up from the bed and went and got Joan's phone number to give to Seth. He didn't want to take any chances of losing her phone number so he wrote it down on a post-it note and gave that to Seth instead of the original piece of paper.

Seth took it and headed back up to his bedroom. Ryan sat back down on his bed and opened up Seth's book and tried to read it. He didn't get very far because he was distracted. He kept looking up, waiting for Seth to come back from calling Joan. Finally, Ryan saw Seth come walking up the steps from the kitchen and enter the pool house.

"OK, so, I talked to Joan. She sounds like a really nice girl. I wish I met her first."

Ryan warned, "Seth."

Seth grinned and put up his hands, pretending to ward off a blow. "Don't worry, dude, she's all yours. She said to tell you that she's been thinking about you. And she said to tell you to remember that it's worth it, whatever that means."

Seth saw Ryan smile to himself. He figured it must be some kind of inside joke between the two of them.

Seth continued, "So the two of us came up with an idea. She gave me her e-mail address and I gave her mine. She's going to e-mail me. I'll relay the message to you. You give me your reply, and I'll e-mail it back to her."

Ryan thought about it for a second. As far as he could see, that didn't break any rules. There wasn't anything saying that Seth couldn't exchange e-mail with Joan, and there wasn't any rule against Seth and Ryan talking. This could work.

Ryan smiled. "Thanks, man."

Seth smiled back. "Like I said, anything for the course of true like."

* * *

Kirsten and Sandy were both in the kitchen. Sandy was working on his famous fajitas for dinner, and Kirsten was sitting at the kitchen table trying to get some work done. After watching Seth walk through to go out to see Ryan in the pool house for the third time in an hour, Kirsten was getting suspicious.

She got up and went over to the French doors and watched Seth talking to Ryan who was sitting up on his bed reading the novel that Seth gave him.

"Sandy?"

Sandy put down the knife he was using to chop lettuce and came over and joined his wife. He put his arm around her waist.

Kirsten continued, "What do you think they're up to?"

"I think Seth is ferrying messages back and forth between Ryan and this girl Joan."

Kirsten looked over at Sandy. She wasn't so sure about that. "Really? You think he likes her that much? To go to this much trouble and recruit Seth into it?"

"Think of this. Ryan was happy to have me talk to Joan's father, Will Girardi, last night, even knowing that of course Will would tell me that Ryan was in Arcadia..."

Kirsten gasped a little bit. That hadn't occurred to her. "He got himself grounded for this girl?"

Sandy nodded.

They both saw Seth start to turn and head back out of the pool house. They quickly separated and went back to their activities. Seth walked back through the kitchen on his way back to his bedroom. He didn't look like he suspected anything.

"Sandy, do you think we should stop them?"

"Technically, they're not breaking any rules. Now if Ryan were in the room while Seth was talking to Joan on the phone, or looking over Seth's shoulder when he was exchanging e-mail with her, then yes, I think that would be bending the rules too much. But as it is, I think we should let it go."

That sounded reasonable to Kirsten. She was glad to see that Ryan had finally moved on from his crush on Marissa.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	8. Grounded, part 2: Monday

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was reading this story (other than you, **drowninmybrain**).

* * *

** Chapter 8 - "Grounded, part 2 - Monday" **

On Monday morning, Ryan allowed himself to sleep in a little bit. It was a minor holiday. A rare weekday with no school for him and Seth, but both Kirsten and Sandy went to work. And since he couldn't leave the house, or rather the property, there was no reason to get up early.

When Ryan went into the kitchen to get himself some coffee and breakfast, he found Seth in there eating his own breakfast. Apparently, Seth had let himself sleep in as well. Ryan got his stuff and sat down at the table next to Seth, who was reading a comic book. He looked up when Ryan sat down.

"Hey, man."

"Hey."

"Well, that was fun yesterday."

"Yeah, about that, thanks again. Do you think your parents suspected anything?"

"Nah. They're clueless. I mean, you were able to fool them for weeks, right?"

Ryan looked down. He wasn't very proud of that now. He knew that he was only able to fool them because they had trusted him and not checked at the moviehouse to make sure he worked there. And now he lost their trust.

Seth continued, oblivious to Ryan's discomfort. "So are you ever going to tell me the whole story? I won't tell, I promise."

Ryan looked up at Seth. "Can we just drop it? It's over now, and I just want to move on."

"Sure, man. Whatever you want."

Seth was a little disappointed. And his curiosity was killing him. He figured out pretty quickly last month that Ryan wasn't working at the moviehouse, and Ryan confirmed it when Seth confronted him. But when he asked Ryan where he _was_ going, Ryan wouldn't tell him. Now he knew that Ryan was out partying. Seth knew there was more to it than that. But it looked like he was never going to know. He knew from experience that if Ryan really didn't want to talk about something, there was no way of convincing him to.

Ryan and Seth sat quietly for a while as they ate their breakfasts and Seth read his comic book. When they were done and had put away their breakfast dishes, Seth turned to Ryan.

"You know, since my Mom and Dad aren't here, you could call Joan."

That sounded really good to Ryan. It had been really hard yesterday when Seth had been able to talk to her and he hadn't. But he didn't want to get into more trouble. "I don't know, Seth..."

"Come on. They'll never know. How would they find out?"

"What if one of them came home?"

Seth considered that. "They both went to work this morning. I'd say that if one of them did come home, the earliest would be at lunchtime, otherwise why go in to the office at all? If you finish your call before lunch, you should be golden."

Seth watched Ryan, who still didn't look convinced.

So Seth continued, "If you are that paranoid, how about this. We call Joan and get her to call back on my cell. That way, a long call to her won't show up on my cell phone bill next month. You can talk to her in my room. I can wait on the steps and if Mom or Dad comes home, I can go up and warn you. How about it? This plan is foolproof."

Ryan had to smile at that. "That's what you said about the model home."

"Not the same, buddy, not the same. How about it? Come on, you know you want to..."

Ryan was still torn, but pretty quickly his desire to hear Joan's voice overcame his fear of getting into more trouble. He smiled at Seth.

"OK, yeah, you're right. Let's do it. Hold it. What time is it?" Ryan looked at the clock. It was 9:30. "It's a little early. She might not be up."

"Well, you can't wait too long or else it will be too late. How about we do it at 10 O'Clock?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

At 10 O'Clock Seth was sitting on the steps. From where he was, he could hear if anyone came in the front door, but he couldn't be seen from downstairs, so he would be able to get up and go down the hallway to warn Ryan if his Mom or Dad came home.

Ryan was up in Seth's room, sitting on his bed, holding his cell phone. Ryan dialed the Girardis' number. He couldn't believe how nervous he was as he listened to the phone ring and waited for someone to answer.

After several rings, Joan's mother picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Girardi. It's Ryan. Can I speak to Joan?"

"Oh, hi, Ryan. Sure, I'll get her." Ryan could hear Mrs. Girardi calling for Joan in the background.

After a few seconds, Joan picked up the phone. "Ryan?"

Ryan was really glad to hear Joan's voice. "Yeah, it's me. Listen, can you call me right back? On Seth's cell phone. Do you have his number?"

"Seth gave it to me yesterday. He said you couldn't call --"

"I'm not supposed to, but Sandy and Kirsten aren't home, so I'm cheating. I really needed to hear your voice."

That made Joan really happy. "I'm glad to hear your voice too."

That made Ryan really happy. "So listen, we can talk more after you call me back. This way there isn't a long call to you on Seth's cell phone bill next month."

"Right. I'll call right back. Bye."

"Bye."

Ryan hung up and waited for the phone to ring, which it did in just a couple of seconds. The caller id showed the Girardis' number. Ryan answered after just one ring.

"Hey."

"Hey. So, you were saying that you're cheating?"

"Yeah. Kirsten and Sandy both went to work today, so Seth and I figured that I could call without being caught. But if one of them comes home, I'm going to have to hang up quickly."

"I understand."

"So -- this really sucks, you know? Me being grounded? I just met you and started to get to know you and now I'm not supposed to see or talk to you for a whole week."

"Think of me. I can't see or talk to you either. I feel like I'm grounded too and I didn't even do anything!"

That made Ryan feel guilty. "Oh, god, yeah. I didn't even think of that. I'm so sorry..."

Joan was sorry she said anything. She wasn't trying to lay a guilt trip on Ryan. "Hey, we knew this was going to happen, right? It's all worth it, right?"

Ryan chuckled. "Right. I've got to keep telling myself that. Although at the time I got myself into this, I didn't know for sure what it was going to be like to be grounded."

Joan was surprised. "Haven't you been grounded before?"

"Nope. Sandy and Kirsten have only been my guardians for a couple of months."

Ryan was kind of surprised himself that he hadn't been grounded already. Sandy and Kirsten had several opportunities. The trip to Tijuana, when he went after Luke at soccer practice, ...

"Didn't your mother --" At this point Joan realized it was probably a really bad idea to bring up his mother, or any part of his life before the Cohens.

"Uh, no, she didn't do stuff like that."

Ryan felt uncomfortable talking about this stuff, but he figured that if Joan was going to be his girlfriend, he'd have to get used to talking about the personal things with her.

_Girlfriend._ God. That sounded so strange. He was going to have to get used to that too. He'd never had a real girlfriend before. Just bed partners. Theresa liked to call herself his 'girlfriend' on occasion, but they'd never really been that committed to each other.

There was sort of an awkward silence for a few moments while neither Ryan nor Joan knew what to say after having brought up the subject of his mother.

Joan finally came up with something safe to say. "So my brother wanted me to thank you for helping him out at the party. He realized that he didn't thank you at the time."

And Ryan and Joan continued talking for a while. The whole time Ryan kept an eye on the clock to make sure it wasn't getting too close to lunchtime.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	9. Grounded, part 3: Still Monday

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 9 - "Grounded, part 3 - Still Monday" **

When Ryan was finished with his call to Joan, he left Seth's cell phone in his room and headed downstairs. He ran into Seth on the steps. When Seth heard Ryan coming, he got up to meet him.

"Hey. How'd it go?"

"Good."

"What'd you two talk about?"

"Seth, that's private."

"Right, between you and your girlfriend. Got it."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet, you mean. But you want her to be, right?"

"I guess." Ryan looked at Seth for a moment. He decided to share. "I've never really had a girlfriend."

Seth was surprised. He was sure that Ryan had had lots of luck with the ladies. So he said, "Really? Because I thought you were... I mean, you had... That is, you have _you know_ before, haven't you?"

Ryan gave him one of his looks. "Yeah, I've hung out with girls. But we never really... went out."

"Ah, got it."

When the reached the kitchen, Seth headed for the TV. "Let's fire up the playstation."

"Seth, I'm still grounded."

"Same deal, man. My Mom and Dad still aren't here."

"No."

"Come on. You broke the rules for Joan but you won't for me?" Seth gave Ryan a mock pout.

"Seth, talking to Joan was important to me, playing video games isn't."

"Fine, fine. But by the time you're not grounded any more, I'm going to be so good I'll kick your ass all over the house."

Ryan smiled at Seth, like indulging a child. "Whatever you say."

Ryan went out to the pool house to try and get some homework done before lunch. And Seth started up the playstation and started playing by himself.

* * *

Sandy headed home at lunchtime. He had planned to put in a full day's work, but with the holiday and all, the courts and everything related to them were closed. So he figured he'd get as much work done at home as at the office.

Sandy was definitely _not_ worried about leaving Ryan home alone while he was grounded. Of course not. And actually, Ryan wasn't really alone. Seth was there too. And those two could never get into any trouble together. Yeah, right.

When Sandy arrived home, he heard the sounds of someone playing a video game. He hoped that it was Seth playing and not Ryan. Sandy smiled to himself. It was so much easier when it was just Seth he had to worry about. Then, if he heard video games, he knew who it was who was playing.

Sandy followed the sounds of the video game to the den. He found Seth playing by himself. Ryan was eating lunch at the kitchen table. Sandy looked around to see if there was evidence that Ryan and Seth had both been playing. Like maybe just a second ago when they heard him come home, Ryan quickly moved over to the kitchen table. There wasn't any such evidence. Well, maybe Ryan was abiding by the rules after all.

"Hey, fellas."

"Hey." That was from Ryan.

"Hey, Dad. What are you doing home?"

"With the holiday, the courts are closed. So I thought I'd work from home this afternoon."

Seth and Ryan exchanged a glance like they didn't believe that for a second.

Sandy continued, "Well, I'm going to go change, then I'll join you guys for lunch."

Sandy went to his bedroom to change out of his suit. By the time he got back to the kitchen, Ryan wasn't there and Seth was making himself lunch.

"Where's Ryan?"

"He finished eating lunch. He went out to the pool house to work on his homework."

"Ah."

Sandy joined Seth in making himself lunch, and the two of them sat down at the kitchen table to eat.

* * *

Ryan was sitting up on his bed, with his homework open in front of him. He was trying to actually work on his homework, but was having the same problem as he'd been having since yesterday. He couldn't concentrate. He found himself going over and over in his mind the conversation that he and Joan had on the phone earlier.

After a while, he realized that this was pointless. He needed to get up and do something. Either something to take his mind off of Joan, or something where it didn't matter if his mind was preoccupied. He looked out at the pool. That sounded like a good idea. He could swim or float without having to think about it, so he could think about Joan. And swimming would help him work off his 'nervous energy'.

So Ryan changed into his swim trunks. He went out to the pool and dove in. He swam around for a while, then got one of the floating pool chairs and floated on the water for a while. He sat there looking out at the ocean and thinking about Joan.

Ryan was pulled out of his thoughts by Seth and Anna walking over to the edge of the pool.

"Hey, Anna."

"Hey, Ryan, how's it going?"

"Good."

Anna looked confused. "Seth said you were grounded."

Ryan smiled. "I guess I meant _as good as can be expected since I'm grounded_."

Seth and Anna both smiled back at Ryan. Then Seth said, "So, Ryan -- Anna and I are going out to the comic book store. Do you want me to get you anything?"

"I'll just read whatever you get for yourself."

"OK. See you later."

After Seth and Anna left, Ryan looked over at the hot tub and thought about moving over there. When he got up the energy. For right now, he went back to staring at the ocean.

* * *

Sandy stood in the master bedroom and watched Ryan lounging in the hot tub. Ryan had his eyes closed. He was probably picturing Joan in the hot tub with him. Sandy smiled. He could picture Kirsten and himself in the hot tub, with a couple glasses of wine, and Mr. Soloman Burke playing in the background. They really needed to do that again soon. It had been a while.

Sandy decided that he needed to have another talk with the kid, and now was as good a time as any. He walked out of the French doors in the bedroom and across the grass to the hot tub.

"Hey, kid."

Ryan jumped a mile. Sandy smiled. Ryan had probably been deeply concentrating on thinking about Joan.

Sandy told him, "Sorry. Didn't mean to sneak up on you."

"That's OK."

"No hurry, but whenever you're done with your swim, we should talk."

"OK."

"Good." Sandy walked away back to his bedroom, smiling to himself.

Ryan sighed. Another talk. Well, he could put it off by staying out here in the water for a while. He closed his eyes and tried to pick up where he left off with the wonderful fantasy he was having about Joan. After a couple of minutes he gave up trying. It was no use. All he could think about was what did Sandy want to talk to him about this time. So Ryan got out of the hot tub. Might as well get this over with.

Ryan went inside the pool house and took a quick shower to rinse off the chlorine. When he walked out of the bathroom, in his t-shirt and pants, he found Sandy sitting in the chair at the foot of the bed, reading the newspaper. It was time. Ryan walked around and down the steps and sat down on the end of the bed across from Sandy.

Sandy folded up his newspaper and leaned back.

"Ryan, if you're going to have a serious relationship with Joan, we need to talk."

Ryan thought, _Oh, great_. It was worse than another lecture or interrogation about Saturday night. It was _The Talk_.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	10. Joan in Newport: part 1

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: On _Joan of Arcadia_, Joan doesn't get her driver's license until an episode in December. We're going to pretend here that she has her license in October.

* * *

** Chapter 10 - "Joan in Newport, part 1" **

The rest of the week that Ryan was grounded went by slowly. Ryan didn't get a chance to call Joan again, but every day they exchanged an e-mail or two, relayed through Seth. Ryan was self-conscious about what he put into the e-mails because he knew that Seth was reading them all. Judging by the content of Joan's e-mails, she was doing the same thing. He'd be really glad when he could talk to her directly again.

On the Sunday after his week of being grounded was over, Ryan really wanted to get together with Joan, but a couple of things prevented that. The first thing was, when he called her on Sunday morning to try and arrange something, she told him that she had to do this garage sale at her house, and she couldn't get out of it. She suggested that he could come to Arcadia, help out with the garage sale, and then afterwards they could maybe go out.

Ryan couldn't do that because of the second thing. Sandy and Kirsten told him that they wanted Joan to come down to Newport and see him instead of him going to Arcadia. They argued that Ryan had already been to Arcadia and gone to her house and met her parents, and now it was Joan's turn. That all sounded so reasonable, but Ryan was sure there was another motive -- what Sandy said about that he'd have to earn their trust back since he'd lied to them.

He figured that they were going to want to keep him close to home for a while and keep closer tabs on him than they used to. Ryan decided he'd better not rock the boat so soon and ask to go to Arcadia the first day after he was done being grounded.

As a result, he and Joan didn't get to see each other that Sunday. Instead, they made arrangements for Joan to come to Newport the following Saturday. And in the meantime, they talked to each other on the phone every day, which was no mean feat because Ryan didn't usually talk so much.

* * *

Joan borrowed her Mom's car and drove down to Newport Beach that next Saturday. The Cohens had a barbecue planned. Apparently Mr. Cohen was the chef of the family. Ryan also told her that Seth's friend Anna was coming, you know, to pair everybody off.

Joan found the house without any problem and pulled into the driveway. She had barely parked and gotten out of the car when Ryan opened the front door and came out to meet her. He came right over to her and gave her a kiss. Joan was a little embarrassed because there was another guy, who she assumed was Seth, who had come out right behind Ryan and was currently standing by the front door.

Joan noticed that neither Ryan nor Seth seemed bothered by the semi-public display of affection. She guess she'd have to get used to this, if she and Ryan were going to be a couple. He appeared to be the touchy-feely type who would want to be holding hands and stuff. Not that she minded, but she'd never had a boyfriend before, so she'd have to get used to it.

After Ryan kissed her, he said, "Hi."

"Hi."

Ryan took Joan's hand and they turned towards the front door. As they approached Seth, Joan smiled at him and said, "You must be Seth."

"Seth Cohen, at your service."

"I wanted to thank you for your help the other week."

"Anything for the cause of true like."

Joan was confused. She had no idea what that meant. She looked over at Ryan, who was shaking his head at Seth. Joan guessed it was an inside joke between the two of them.

"Um... Where are your parents?" She had noticed that there were no cars in the driveway.

"There was an emergency thing with this lawsuit that my father's law firm is handling against my grandfather's company. My Mom works for my Grandpa. So both my Mom and Dad had to go handle it. They'll be back in time for the barbecue, though, not to worry."

"Ah."

After a moment, Ryan turned to Joan and said, "Let me give you a tour of the house."

The three of them entered the house. Ryan led Joan all around the first floor, pointing out each room. Seth tagged along, ignoring the looks that Ryan was trying to give him to tell him to take off. They all went upstairs, and Seth very gladly showed Joan his room, including introducing her to Captain Oats.

They all went downstairs and out to the back yard. Ryan showed Joan the infinity pool, something which she never heard of before, and the hot tub. They entered the pool house, and Ryan explained that this is where he stayed. Joan thought it was pretty cool. Ryan was right - it was like a studio apartment.

After he finished showing her around, Ryan gave Seth a pointed stare, and said in a not very subtle way, "Don't you have to get back to that thing you were doing?"

Seth looked from Ryan to Joan and back. He grinned, and said, "Yeah. I do. See you later. For the barbecue."

Seth headed back to the house.

* * *

After Seth left, Ryan and Joan stood around awkwardly for a moment. Then Ryan cleared his throat and said, "The view of the pool this time of day is beautiful, with the sun reflecting off of it. You can see it best from the bed."

Ryan got onto his bed, sitting up against the pillows. He moved over from the edge to give Joan room. He put his left arm out, miming putting it around her shoulders, inviting her to join him. She hesitated a little bit, not sure how far Ryan would be expecting her to go if she joined him on his bed. Ryan could see her hesitate and could guess what she was thinking.

Ryan smiled at her, trying to ease her concerns, and said, "Sit with me? Just sit. We don't have to do anything."

Joan smiled hesitantly back and cautiously joined him on the bed. Ryan put his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head back against his arm. They both looked out of the pool house doors at the sunlight glinting off the surface of the pool.

Ryan said, "See, now, isn't this nice?"

They sat in comfortable silence for a while. At least Ryan thought it was comfortable. It was for him. Joan on the other hand had been wrestling with whether to talk to Ryan now or put it off. She finally decided to do it now.

"Ryan?"

"Mmm... Hmmm?"

Joan hesitantly started to say, "You know, um, that I haven't... that is... I'm not..."

Ryan knew what she was talking about. He had been waiting for her to bring it up because he didn't want to bring it up himself and make her uncomfortable. So he finished her thought for her.

"You're not experienced? I know."

"And you..."

"Are. Does that bother you?"

Joan thought about it for a second. She had figured that he was, but now that he confirmed it, she had to sort out her feelings. After a moment she spoke.

"No, I guess not. Does it bother you?"

"Not at all." Ryan looked down at Joan and saw that she was nervous. He rubbed her arm with his hand. "Hey. We'll go slow, OK? I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. And if I ever do, make you uncomfortable, I want you to tell me right away. And if you ever want me to stop, just say so, and I'll stop, no questions asked. OK?"

Joan was relieved. "OK."

Joan had one more thing that she was dying to know, but she didn't know if she dared ask. She got up the courage.

"Ryan, are you... um..." Her courage failed her.

"You can ask me anything, Joan. I mean it. Ask."

"Um... I know how guys are, or at least I know what I've heard. Are you... Are you going to be able to, you know, wait?"

Ryan smiled. He'd wondered that himself. Then he got serious so she wouldn't think he was making fun of her or anything.

"I won't lie, it's going to be hard." Ryan smiled to himself. No pun intended. "But what did I say before? You're worth it."

Joan smiled and turned her head to look up at him. Ryan smiled back and leaned down to give her a kiss. Then he leaned back against the pillows, and she leaned back against him, and they fell into a comfortable silence. For real, this time.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	11. Joan in Newport: part 2

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: Halloween 2003 landed on a Friday. We're going to pretend in this story that it was on a Saturday.

* * *

** Chapter 11 - "Joan in Newport, part 2" **

Ryan and Joan sat quietly together on his bed for a while. Joan had some more stuff that she wanted to talk to Ryan about, but she respected his desire to be quiet for now. She knew that he wasn't a big talker and liked his silences. And she didn't mind, either.

Their silent togetherness was broken when Seth came back out to the pool house.

"Hey, guys. Anna's here. We're going to play the ninja game. Want to join us? We can play two-on-two."

Ryan and Joan looked at each other and came to a silent agreement. Ryan turned to Seth and told him, "Sure. Give us a minute."

"Great. We are _so_ going to beat your asses." Seth turned and headed back to the house.

Ryan and Joan disentangled themselves and got up off the bed. Joan headed for the bathroom. When she came out, she decided she wanted to talk to Ryan about something before they joined Seth and Anna in the house.

"Halloween is next Saturday, you know."

Ryan smiled. "I knew that."

"Why don't you come up to Arcadia? We can hang out, spend the day together. And in the evening we can go out. My school is having a Halloween dance. I know, kind of lame. They want to 'keep everybody out of trouble'. Or we could probably find a party if you want."

Ryan nodded. "Halloween in Arcadia sounds great. I think we should stick to the dance, though. Staying out of trouble sounds pretty good to me right about now."

Ryan and Joan exchanged smiles. Ryan continued, "And besides, I think Sandy and Kirsten would be more likely to let me go if it was a school thing instead of some party."

"Right. Good. So, we'll have to get you a costume."

Ryan frowned. "Costume?"

"For the dance. It's a costume thing." Joan was confused. What else would it be?

"I don't do costumes."

Joan decided to kid around with Ryan a little. She smiled and said, "Come on. Even when you were little? You must have been so cute in your little costume, trick-or-treating..."

Ryan looked down and blinked his eyes rapidly. Joan thought, _Damn._ She had upset him, again. She had to start thinking before she opened her mouth.

Ryan took a deep breath and looked back up at Joan. "You can't go trick-or-treating in Chino. Too dangerous. And my folks didn't have the money to waste on costumes, anyway."

Joan hated to see Ryan like this, especially if she caused it. "Ryan, I'm sorry..."

Ryan just shook his head, indicating that there was no need for an apology. Then he took Joan's hand, and they headed into the house to take on Seth and Anna at the ninja game. They found them as expected in the den, playing the game. When Ryan and Joan came in, Seth and Anna put down their game controllers and stood up. Ryan made the introductions.

"So. Anna Stern. Joan Girardi."

Anna smiled and put out her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Joan shook hands with Anna. "Hi. Nice to meet you, too. How long have you and Seth been going out?"

Anna and Seth looked at each other quickly. Seth said, "Um, we're just friends."

Joan blushed. She was embarrassed. She could have sworn they looked like a couple. "Sorry."

Anna waved her hand, dismissing the problem. "Don't worry about it."

Seth decided to cut the tension. "Hey, you know what? We have our own little United Nations here." Seth pointed to himself. "Newport Beach." Then to Anna. "Pittsburgh." Joan. "Arcadia." And finally Ryan. "Chino."

The other three just looked at Seth like he was nuts.

Anna bailed Seth out. "Are you guys ready to have your asses kicked?"

Ryan replied, "Yeah, you wish."

The four kids squished themselves onto the couch and started playing.

* * *

Sandy hurried home from the office. He hated it that he had gotten pulled away from home today. He had been really looking forward to meeting this girl that Ryan was so enamoured with. But this stupid Balboa Heights law suit just wouldn't go away. Rachel had called and insisted that they had to deal with this emergency over the weekend -- it wouldn't wait until Monday. And if she had her way, he'd still be there. But he couldn't miss the barbecue with Ryan and Joan. He just hoped that Kirsten could get away from her father soon.

When Sandy got home, he put down his briefcase and followed the sounds of video games to the den. He smiled to see how Joan looked like she fit in so well with the other three.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." He nodded to Anna. "Hi, Anna." And turned to Joan. "And you must be Joan. Sandy Cohen. I've heard a lot about you." Sandy held out his hand to Joan. Joan and the others stood up.

Joan shook Sandy's hand. "Hi."

Joan had never shaken people's hands so much in all her life. They didn't really shake hands so much in Arcadia. Especially teenagers. Especially girls. Must be a Newport Beach thing.

Sandy turned to Seth. "Is your mother home?"

"No, not yet."

"Could you call her and remind her about the barbecue?"

"Sure thing, pops." Seth headed to the kitchen to get the phone.

Sandy looked at the mess in the den. The kids had been having snacks and drinks while they were playing video games and waiting for dinner.

He said to Ryan, "Could you guys clean up in here then start getting the stuff out in the kitchen? I'll go fire up the grill."

"Sure."

Ryan turned off the playstation. He and the girls started cleaning up the den. They were joined by Seth after he talked to his Mom, telling the others, "My Mom's on her way."

Sandy, Seth, Ryan, Anna, and Joan all worked together to clean up, set the table, and get everything ready in the kitchen for the barbecue. The food was all prepared, they just had to assemble and cook everything.

At one point, Joan and Ryan were alone in the kitchen because Sandy was outside at the grill and Seth and Anna had left the kitchen to bring stuff out to him. It was the first time that Joan and Ryan had been alone since they had joined Seth and Anna in the den. Joan took the opportunity to talk to Ryan.

"Seth and Anna really aren't going out?"

"Nope."

"But Anna is into him, right? Doesn't Seth like her, too?"

"Seth likes this girl Summer, who won't give him the time of day. He's been in love with her since like fifth grade. So he can't see what's right in front of him."

"Ah. So, um, are you going to ask Sandy if you can spend Halloween with me?"

"Yeah, of course. Later, after dinner, when Kirsten's here too." Ryan wanted Sandy and Kirsten to have some time to get to know Joan before he asked.

Joan smiled. "Cool."

Ryan and Joan went back to helping with the barbecue.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	12. Joan in Newport: part 3

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 12 - "Joan in Newport, part 3" **

Sandy, the boys, and the girls had everything all ready for dinner by the time that Kirsten came home from the office. The six of them sat and ate at the kitchen table and had a nice getting-to-know-you conversation. Joan learned more about Ryan, the Cohens, and Newport Beach than she had learned from Ryan in all their phone conversations. And Sandy and Kirsten learned a lot about Joan, her family, and Arcadia.

After dinner, Ryan and Joan helped Sandy and Kirsten clean up. Anna had to leave because she had some family thing at home, and Seth walked her out. Ryan decided to take this opportunity to ask Sandy and Kirsten about Halloween.

Ryan took a quick look at Joan first. She saw that he was ready to ask, now, so she went over to the kitchen island where he was and stood next to him.

Ryan started, "So, um, you guys?"

Kirsten and Sandy looked over, and saw Ryan and Joan standing together. It looked to Sandy like Ryan and Joan had something to say, together.

"What's up?"

"Next Saturday - Halloween? I was wondering if it would be OK for me to spend the day in Arcadia with Joan? And then in the evening there's this thing --"

Sandy jumped in, "No, no, no. Not another party."

Joan quickly said, "It's not a party. It's a school dance. You know, chaperoned? My mother's even going to be there. She works at the school. She's going to be a chaperone."

Ryan looked at Joan. She hadn't mentioned before that her mother was going to be there. He wondered if she had just made that up to try and convince Sandy and Kirsten to let him go. He hoped not - they'd heard enough lies lately.

Sandy and Kirsten looked at each other for a moment. Then Sandy looked back at Ryan and said, "Kirsten and I are going to have to discuss this. If you kids could give us a few minutes..."

Ryan said, "Sure. Of course."

Ryan steered Joan out the French doors into the back yard. He stopped there and asked her, "Is your mother really going to be there? You didn't mention that before."

"You think I made it up?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. Joan continued, "Well, I didn't. She is going to be there, like I said."

Ryan took Joan's hand and said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you..."

Joan gave Ryan a little smile. "That's OK."

* * *

While Ryan and Joan were in the back yard, Sandy and Kirsten were talking in the kitchen.

Kirsten started, "I think we should let him go."

"I don't know. I don't know if we should let him go out again so soon."

"Sandy, it's a school dance. What kind of trouble can he get into?"

Sandy frowned. "If that's really where they're going..."

"It's easy to check. You can call Will Girardi, make sure there's really a school dance, make sure Joan's mother is really going to be there. If she is, she can make sure that's where Joan and Ryan are."

Sandy nodded, thoughtfully. "I guess I can do that."

Kirsten looked out the kitchen window and looked at Ryan and Joan in the back yard. Ryan was holding Joan's hand. Sandy joined Kirsten at the window and looked out at Ryan and Joan, too.

Sandy remarked, "Joan _is_ a nice girl, isn't she?"

"That she is."

"Hmmm... I guess it would be OK, if it checks out. She's a nice girl. She's not the type to pull him into any trouble. And he's going to want to protect her, and keep her from getting into any trouble. And you know what? I'll bet Ryan knows that if he does get Joan into any trouble, her father would kick his ass."

Sandy smiled at Kirsten. "I mean, as a cop."

Kirsten smiled back, "Yeah."

* * *

When Kirsten and Sandy were done discussing it, and since they had finished cleaning up the kitchen, they joined Ryan and Joan in the back yard. When Ryan and Joan saw Kirsten and Sandy approaching, they stood side-by-side, holding hands, waiting for the verdict.

Sandy let them know the good news. "Ryan, we're going to let you go --"

Ryan and Joan smiled at each other, and Ryan squeezed Joan's hand. Ryan looked back at Sandy and said, "Thanks."

Sandy continued. "-- provided that this checks out. I'm going to call your father, Joan, and make sure we're all on the same page."

"OK."

"I want you two to stay at the dance. No making an appearance then sneaking out to some party."

Ryan reassured Sandy, "We're not going to do that."

"And the usual: no drinking, no drugs, no fighting. And your curfew is still midnight, so you're going to have to take Joan home and leave her house by 11 O'Clock."

"Right, OK, got it."

Sandy and Kirsten looked at each other. Kirsten said, "Well, I guess that's it."

Ryan smiled at Kirsten and Sandy. "Thanks, you guys."

* * *

When it was time for Joan to go home, Ryan walked her out to her car. "I hope you had a good time."

"Yeah, it was nice. The Cohens are nice people."

"Yup. So... I'll come up next week? I'll come early so we can hang out. You can show me Arcadia."

"Sounds good. And remember, we have to get you a costume." Ryan groaned.

Joan looked at Ryan for a moment. Smiling to herself, she decided to turn the tables on him this time. She reached up and gave _him_ a quick kiss, saying, "Don't worry, we'll think of something cool."

Ryan looked pleasantly surprised. Joan saw his eyebrows go up, and he had a little smile on his face. That was the first time that she'd done that. He'd always been the one before who had initiated the kisses. Joan hoped that she didn't just get in over her head. She hoped that he didn't assume too much from that.

She wasn't surprised, then, when he reached out and put his arm around her waist and leaned into her and gave her another one of his long, soft, intoxicating French kisses, like in her bedroom that first night two weeks ago. She had feelings running through her that she'd never felt before. When he broke it off, she stood there for a moment, a little dazed.

When Joan looked back up at Ryan, he was smiling at her, like he knew what he'd just done to her.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	13. Halloween: part 1

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: A reminder that while Halloween really was on Friday in 2003, in this story it is on Saturday.

* * *

** Chapter 13 - "Halloween, part 1" **

Saturday. October 31st. Halloween.

Ryan was in the pool house getting ready for his trip to Arcadia for the day. He and Joan had gone back and forth on the phone during the last week over a costume for him for the Arcadia High School Halloween Costume Dance tonight. He didn't really want to wear a costume at all, but Joan insisted. They finally compromised.

He was going to wear what Joan called his "Chino clothes" -- his old boots and old cheap pants that he brought with him from Chino, plus a wife-beater, and his leather jacket with the gray hooded sweatshirt. As far as he was concerned, they were real clothes, not a costume, so he was fine with it. Joan thought they would be OK as a costume since the kids at her school didn't dress like that, so she was fine with it too.

So that his Chino clothes would seem more like a costume when he changed into them before the dance, this morning he dressed in some of his nicer clothes. Not dressy, just nicer. His new boots. An almost new pair of $98 designer jeans from South Coast Plaza. One of his nicer black t-shirts. One of his nicer long sleeve buttoned shirts, black, with a subtle pattern on it.

* * *

When Ryan arrived at Joan's house in the Range Rover, he parked as before along the curb out front. Joan came out to meet him at the car and gave him a kiss before they headed into the house. She brought him to the kitchen first to get a couple of Cokes, then they went upstairs. Ryan didn't see anyone else home, until they walked past Luke's room. Ryan looked in and saw Luke in there, working on his computer.

Ryan and Joan went into her room, and she closed the door behind them. Ryan smiled to himself. Apparently nobody obeyed the rules when their parents weren't home to catch them. They sat down on the bed and drank their Cokes and talked. They also engaged in a little kissing, but nothing too heavy.

When she was done with her Coke, Joan got up and put some music on her stereo. Slow music. She smiled at Ryan and said, "I thought we should practice dancing. You know, for tonight."

"I really don't dance."

Joan joked with him. "Yeah, I know. I remember the party."

Ryan gave Joan a sheepish smile. He guessed that when they danced with each other at the party, she could tell that he didn't really dance very well.

Joan continued, "That's why we need to practice."

Ryan smiled at her, got up from the bed, and went over to her. She put her arms around him, like she had them when they were dancing to the slow song at the party. Ryan decided to joke back with Joan. As he put his arms around her, he let his hands wander downwards a little too far.

"Hey, hey, hands. Remember, this is a school dance."

Ryan moved his hands back up to an appropriate area. Ryan and Joan started to sway to the music.

After they'd practiced dancing to a couple of different CDs, they decided they'd better get going if Joan was going to show Ryan around Arcadia. Joan headed off to the bathroom to do whatever girls do to get ready to go out of the house. While he was waiting, Ryan wandered over to Luke's room, where Luke was still working on his computer. Ryan stopped in the doorway.

To let Luke know he was there, Ryan said, "Hey."

Luke turned around. "Hey."

Ryan looked in at Luke's room. It was filled with all sorts of science-related stuff. "Cool room."

"Thanks."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Luke thought, _Wow._ A cool guy like Ryan thought that his room was cool. And he was polite, too. People usually just came barging in. Luke didn't like people coming into his room too much, because they liked to pick stuff up and move stuff around and it messed up his science experiments. But to Luke's surprise, Ryan wasn't like that. It was as if Ryan knew what all this stuff meant to Luke. Ryan kept his hands to himself and just looked.

Ryan slowly walked around Luke's room, looking at all the cool stuff that he had. Ryan always liked science. At Chino Hills High, it was pretty boring though since they didn't have any money for interesting labwork. At Harbor High, the chemistry class he was taking was much more interesting, and challenging. He was having a tough time with it.

As Ryan looked at Luke's stuff, he'd ask questions about what something was, or comment that it was fascinating. Pretty soon, Luke got up from his computer and started giving Ryan a tour, explaining what everything was.

When they got to something about chemistry, Ryan was able to identify it before Luke told him.

Luke was a little surprised. "You know chemistry?"

Ryan laughed a little. "Well, I'm taking it. I wouldn't say that I know it. Like, I know what you have here is for, but I don't really understand the process."

"It's easy. I could explain it to you. It will take 5 minutes."

Luke stopped because he realized that he had just insulted Ryan, implying that he was stupid because he didn't understand something that was easy. Luke was nervous about how Ryan would react. He was still a little afraid of him. Ryan was tough. He was from Chino.

Ryan could see that Luke was nervous around him. He knew that Luke didn't mean to insult him. So Ryan said, "That would be great. We're studying this right now, and I have a test next week. If you could get me to understand it, it would really help me out a lot."

Luke relaxed and smiled. "Yeah, I could do that. Have a seat."

Ryan sat down. While Luke went over to his books and got his chemistry textbook and a notebook, Ryan said, "You're taking chemistry? I thought Joan said that she was taking chemistry."

Luke sat down next to Ryan. He flipped through the textbook and opened it in the right section. He opened the notebook to a blank page. "Yeah, we're in the same AP Chemistry class."

"That must be weird."

"Tell me about it."

Luke and Ryan settled in. Luke started to explain the chemistry process. He pointed things out in the textbook and drew stuff up in the notebook. Ryan asked questions. After a few minutes, Ryan was starting to get it.

When Joan was done getting herself ready, she came looking for Ryan. She followed the sound of his voice to Luke's room. She stopped in the doorway and smiled at what she saw - Luke and Ryan, deep into talking about some chemistry thing. Luke was really enjoying himself. And Ryan didn't look like he was having such a bad time, either. She was glad that Luke and Ryan were getting along.

Neither Luke nor Ryan noticed Joan standing there. Joan wanted to get going, so she got their attention. "Hey."

They both paused in what they were talking about and turned to look over at her. Ryan smiled and held up one finger. He needed just 1 minute more. Joan nodded. Ryan turned back to Luke, who continued the explanation. Joan waited patiently by the door. It was somewhat more than 1 minute before they finished.

When they were done, Ryan stood up and took several pieces of paper that Luke had been writing things on, folded them up, and put them into his pocket. He said to Luke, "Thanks, man." And shook his hand.

Luke smiled. This had been fun. "Any time."

Ryan went over to Joan. "Ready?"

"I was ready 5 minutes ago." Joan replied, pretending to complain. But her smile gave her away.

Ryan smiled too and gave Joan a kiss. Then he took her hand, and they headed out to the Range Rover.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	14. Halloween: part 2

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

* * *

** Chapter 14 - "Halloween, part 2" **

In the Range Rover, Joan gave Ryan a guided tour around Arcadia. She directed him towards the different neighborhoods: working-class, middle-class, rich. She showed him downtown. They drove by the bookstore where she worked. They drove by her high school, which is where they'd be going that evening for the dance. They ended up at the mall.

Ryan complained. "We're not going shopping, are we?"

Joan smiled at him indulgently. "The little kids get dressed in their costumes and go to the mall to go trick-or-treating. The stores give out candy. I thought we could go, watch the kids, maybe get something to eat..."

Ryan smiled back. "Cool."

And so they parked and went into the mall.

Inside the mall, Joan and Ryan headed over to the Food Court, to the ice cream place. They got in line. While they were waiting, Joan noticed a distinctive high school guy with black lipstick. Him, again.

Joan said to Ryan, "Can you order for me? I have to --" And she gestured in the general direction of the restrooms.

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Small strawberry cone."

"You got it."

"Thanks."

Joan headed over to talk to Him. She had some questions for Him. About Ryan. She had seen Him since the night she met Ryan, what with the whole garage sale thing, but hadn't been able to talk to Him about Ryan.

When Joan approached, He said, "I see you're having a good time."

"Yeah, you know. I have a question for you. Why did you tell me to bring Ryan home that night? I don't get it. What's the plan? Just to get me a boyfriend?" Somehow, Joan doubted that.

He said, patiently, "You know I don't answer questions, Joan."

"You told me to introduce him to my parents. As far as I can tell, all introducing him to my father accomplished was to get him grounded." Joan looked back over at Ryan, who was now at the front of the line.

When Joan looked back at Him, He smiled. "Exactly."

"What does that mean?"

By this time, Ryan had purchased the two ice cream cones and had looked around for Joan. He saw her talking to a freaky-looking high school guy. He told himself to relax. Just because a guy liked to wear freaky make-up didn't mean he was a danger to anyone. Maybe it was just a Halloween costume. Ryan hurried over there anyway.

As Ryan got close to Joan and this guy, heard Joan say _what does that mean?_ She sounded a little upset. Ryan walked up to them and handed Joan her strawberry cone.

Ryan asked Joan, "Is everything OK?" Then he looked over at the guy who was dressed like a freak.

Joan quickly said, "Fine."

In the short time that she and Ryan had spent together, she already knew that he was the protective type. And he looked like he was in full protective mode right now. She prayed to Him that Ryan wasn't going to try and get into a fight with The Almighty. That would definitely not be good.

Joan watched Him smile at her, then look at Ryan and say, "You must be Ryan."

Ryan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked at Joan. Joan told Ryan, "He's a friend. I know him from school."

"Ah, OK."

Ryan looked back at the freak. Joan must have mentioned him to this guy. Actually, now that Ryan was really looking at him, he looked familiar somehow. Ryan looked at him quizically. "Have we met?"

The guy smiled, again, and said, "Possibly. I meet a lot of people."

He turned to Joan and said, "Think about it, Joan."

Then He turned and walked away.

Joan watched Ryan turn to look at her, with a confused look on his face. So Joan said, "He's just a guy I know. No big deal."

Ryan said uncertainly, "OK."

Ryan and Joan sat down on a bench and started eating their ice cream cones. They watched the kids go by in their costumes. Joan started to think about what He had said. It didn't make much sense. She got Ryan grounded. That was the plan? She'd have to think about it some more. Try to make sense of it.

After a while, Joan realized that she'd been spacing out, thinking. Joan looked over at Ryan. He didn't seem to have noticed. He looked like he was thinking, too. She wondered about what.

Once they were both done with their ice cream. Ryan and Joan looked at each other. Joan said, "Let's walk. Go window shopping."

"Sure."

So they stood up and started to walk around the mall, holding hands. They walked past different stores, stopped to look in the windows at some, went into others. They talked, and joked, and laughed. They had a good time.

Walking along a side area of the mall where Joan had rarely been before, she noticed a photo booth. She pointed it out to Ryan. "Hey. Look."

Joan started pulling Ryan towards the booth. "We don't have any pictures of each other. Let's take some!"

Ryan was less than enthusiastic. "I don't like having my picture taken."

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun! Don't you want a picture of me?"

Ryan considered. That was true. He would like one. He sighed. "OK."

"Great!"

So they got out some small bills and change, and paid to use the booth several times. First Joan alone, then Ryan and Joan together, then Joan pushed Ryan in to take some pictures of him alone.

Joan's pictures showed her making faces, and moving around, and generally having a good time. Ryan smiled. He liked them. Ryan took the row of pictures to take home with him. Joan tried to take them back. She hated them.

"Ugh. They're awful. There are much better ones of me at home. I can get you some of those."

Ryan wouldn't give them back. "Hey, this was your idea. I'm keeping these. But I'd like some from your house, too. I can't get enough of looking at you."

Joan smiled at that and blushed a little. Ryan gave her a quick kiss.

Ryan's pictures were different than Joan's. He sat still, stiff, either smiling or not. He didn't like his pictures, either. He never liked how he showed up in pictures.

Joan kept them, too. "Well, you can give me some pictures from your house, too."

Ryan considered. He didn't think he had any pictures to give her. He hadn't brought any with him from Chino, not that his mother was big into the picture taking. And he had never seen the Cohens taking any.

"I don't think I have any pictures of me at home."

"Really?" Ryan shrugged. Joan continued. "OK, well. Maybe when we're back at my house, I can take a picture of you with our camera."

Ryan wasn't sure that was such a good idea. He said, uncertainly, "Maybe."

The pictures that were of both Ryan and Joan were kind of in the middle of their individual pictures. Joan had tried to get Ryan to loosen up and have fun and it partially worked.

Joan said, "When we get home, we can cut this strip in half and each get some."

"OK."

Ryan and Joan pocketed the pictures that they were taking home. Then Ryan took Joan's hand, and they continued their window shopping.

* * *

To Be Continued 


	15. Halloween: part 3

Title: Ryan and Joan

Summary: Ryan meets Joan from _Joan of Arcadia_.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to _The O.C._ or _Joan of Arcadia_.

Author's Notes: This is the last chapter of this story. It has been fun. A thank you to my loyal reviewers. A final thank you to my beta, Eileen.

* * *

** Chapter 15 - "Halloween, part 3" **

By the time Ryan and Joan got back to the Girardi house from the mall, it was just about time to change into their costumes for the dance. Ryan grabbed the shopping bag with his "costume" in it out of the car and followed Joan into the house.

Almost everyone was home when they got there. Joan's mother was already at the dance to get things set up because she was chaperoning. But the rest of Joan's family was at the house: Joan's father Will, Joan's younger brother Luke, who was attending the dance dressed as Einstein, and Joan's older brother Kevin, who was in a wheelchair. This was the first time that Ryan had met Kevin.

Ryan and Joan headed upstairs to change into their costumes - Joan in her bedroom, and Ryan in the upstairs bathroom. Ryan couldn't wait to see what Joan's costume was. She'd been hinting that he'd like it, but she wouldn't tell him what it was.

In the bathroom, Ryan took off his nice Newport clothes and put on his not so nice Chino clothes. He took off his expensive watch, but left on his leather wrist cuff. He had dug up his old leather choker and now he tied it around his neck. It was weird to wear it again. He had also gotten some hair gel to try and get his hair set up like he used to wear it. After fiddling with it for a while, he got it pretty close. It couldn't be exactly the same unless he got it cut, which he wasn't about to do just for this.

Ryan heard a knock on the door, then Joan's voice, "Ryan, are you ready?"

"Just another minute."

Ryan washed the hair gel off his hands and finished putting his nice clothes into the shopping bag. He opened the door to find Joan standing there in her costume. She was dressed as Joan of Arc. Really, really hot. Ryan couldn't take his eyes off her. He was't sure how he'd be able to get through this night, with her looking like that.

Joan grinned. She knew this outfit would make him speechless. "I told you you'd like it."

Ryan forced himself to look up at her face. He grinned back at her. "It's great."

Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and put his shopping bag down on the floor. He looked around. They were the only ones upstairs, as far as he could tell. He put one arm around her waist and his other hand behind her head. He pulled her in and started making out with her. He knew this might be too much for her too soon, but he couldn't help himself. Her outfit was driving him crazy, and at this point, he hadn't gotten 'satisfaction', as it were, in about 4 weeks.

After a minute, Joan started saying "mmm", since she couldn't talk because her mouth was occupied, and she started pushing on his chest. Ryan forced himself to break it off. He let her go with a "Sorry."

Joan was glad and a little scared that her costume had this effect on Ryan. "That's OK."

Ryan and Joan shared a couple of embarrassed smiles, then they gathered themselves together and went downstairs.

They met up with Luke, as Einstein, in the livingroom. He was going to ride over to the dance with them. Luke recognized the clothes that Ryan was wearing as pretty much what he had on when he first met him, at the party. He wasn't sure how they qualified as a costume.

Then Luke caught sight of Joan. "Wow. If you weren't my sister..."

Just then, Kevin and Will came in from the kitchen. Kevin said, "Luke, that's disgusting..."

Kevin looked at what Ryan was wearing and was impressed. He looked totally different from what he looked like when Kevin met him earlier, in his expensive designer clothes.

"Ryan, you look great. Just like a hood."

Ryan raised his eyebrows. He guessed he was a hood, in some ways, back in his old 'hood.

Kevin continued, joking, "Hey, maybe next year my Dad can get you an orange jumpsuit to wear."

Will and Ryan said, simultaneously, "Blue."

Will and Ryan looked at each other for a moment, then Ryan looked down. Joan knew what just happened. Ryan mentioned to her earlier that juvie had blue jumpsuits. He didn't talk about juvie much. Just when they were at the mall looking at some clothes, Ryan mentioned that even the blue jumpsuits in juvie looked better than that.

Joan could see that Ryan felt uncomfortable, since he just kind of gave away that he'd been in juvie. She and her father already knew, of course, but her brothers didn't. Joan looked at Ryan and felt uncomfortable on his behalf.

Kevin and Luke didn't know what just happened and looked back and forth between their father, Ryan, and Joan, all of whom apparently knew something that they didn't.

Will spoke up, to try and clear up the confusion. "The jumpsuits in juvie are blue."

Of course, that only cleared up part of the confusion. Now Kevin and Luke were wondering how Ryan knew that juvie had blue jumpsuits. He couldn't have been in juvie, could he?

After another moment of awkwardness. Joan took Ryan's hand. He looked up at her. She told him, "Let's head over to the dance."

He gave her a grateful smile. The two of them headed out the front door and out to the Range Rover. Luke trailed after them, hoping that someday he'd get an explanation of what just happened, but not really expecting to.

When Ryan and Joan got to the dance, both of their costumes were a big hit.

* * *

Ryan and Joan left the dance when it got close to the time that Ryan had to leave Arcadia to get back to Newport in time for his midnight curfew. They took the Range Rover back to Joan's house. Luke didn't come with them. He wanted to stay a little longer. He'd get a ride home with his mother.

Once they were on the road, Ryan said to Joan, "Well, that was fun. You know, for a school event. Thanks for inviting me."

Joan replied, distractedly, "Yeah. I had fun, too."

Ryan had noticed that Joan had been quiet and distracted on and off ever since they left the mall. "Joan, is everything all right?"

"Fine. Why?"

"You just seem a little distracted, that's all."

"I've been doing some thinking." Joan paused. "Ryan, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, of course."

"That party, where we met -- was it a good idea for you to be there? I mean, with your probation and all?"

Ryan gave her a little wry smile. "Not really."

"You're not going back to those parties any more, right? With your guardians catching you and everything?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. Not any more."

"Good. I just... I don't think it is a good idea -- for you -- to be in places like that."

Ryan sighed. "Yeah."

Joan looked out the window. She had continued to think about what He had said when she saw Him at the mall. Now she thought she had His plan figured out. Let's see --

Ryan had been going to parties. He told her he had been lying to his guardians about where he was going. At the party where they met, Joan saw him looking for slutty girls. He was looking to score.

At these parties that Ryan had been going to, there was drinking and probably drugs. Sometimes the police raided these things and arrested people. With his probation, Ryan could have landed in jail.

Ryan also tended to get into fights, like he could have when he was helping Luke against those bullies. With a fight, Ryan could have landed in the hospital, or jail, or worse.

Her parents would say that he was engaging in "risky behavior" by going to these parties.

Enter Joan. Enter Him. He told her to take Ryan home and introduce him to her parents.

Joan introduced Ryan to her father. Her father talked to Ryan's guardian. Ryan was busted and got grounded. Ryan no longer went to these parties. No more "risky behavior".

Joan looked over at Ryan and smiled to herself.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

**The End.**


End file.
